A Month of Fnishes...

Whew, there's been a lot of sewing going on in my sewing room this month, and a whole lot of finishes! I'll note which projects include fabric from Island Batik as I go through them all.  First finish this year was the first Project Quilting challenge:  Hope Springs Eternal:

This quilt featured Island Batik fabrics, was cut with a GO! cutter from Accuquilt, and featured Aurifil Thread and Hobbs batting.

The next finish was my quilt for the Black and White blog hop:

Deonn at Quiltscapes was inspired by the same tile pattern as I was, but she made a different project!  This one also featured Island Batik fabric.  This quilt used up the last of my cone of Aurifil thread in white, and also used Hobbs batting.

I also quilted my Whimsical and Wonky top :

These are those fun Check it Out fabrics from Island Batik that I used for my December Challenge.  I used four of the blocks for the table runner, and made this fun lap quilt from the remaining 12 blocks that I made.  I used Aurifil thread and Hobbs Batting in this one as well!  

My next finish is my Project Quilting 10.2 challenge.  This one was made with assorted cotton fabrics from my stash.  I'm happy to say I used up a good amount of the patriotic fabric I've collected in this one!

Then I finished my blog hop project from the French Blue Collection.  You still have time to enter my giveaway by going and reading my blog post from Monday

This was also my OMG for the month!  I'm sure happy that I got it finished on schedule and was able to meet my final commitment for the 2018 Island Batik Ambassador program!

This weekend I finished the lap size quit made from baby clothes:

I also finished the twin size quilt today!

Isn't that robot quilt perfect?  Such a great little boy quilt!

I don't think I'll manage finishing 7 quilts every month, but it's a great way to start 2019!  I was so excited to finish the quilts, that I got busy and finished a couple blocks for different sewalongs.

This is my center for the Quilter's Planner's sewalong for this year!  Isn't that tree print pretty?  I'm going to do my quilt in blues with white background, and just use stash fabrics.

And here is my green block for Jen's 2019 Color Challenge!  I didn't think it was going to happen, but it did - love this block!  You should join in - it's going to be fun!

So, all in all a great month of quilting, lots of finished projects and I made progress on a few other items.  Now to make my list for February...

Monday Musings

I have been working on my tendency toward procrastination and thinking about what makes me resist doing certain things that I know need to be done.  I wrote about some of those things on Saturday, and the feedback I got really made me think about diving into those type of thoughts a little more deeply.  I know for me, that when something seems really difficult I am apt to put it off - and most of the time the task is quite achievable, even if it might be challenging.  I found this quote (by unknown) and thought it was perfect!

The best way to get over that hill is to start climbing.

So with that in mind, I tackled the task of enlarging that too snug cover for my Quilter's Planner!

I didn't want to take it apart and add to the lining and the cover, then sew it all back together again, so I decided to be really crazy and use a quilt-as-you-go technique to add a section.  So with a small amount of fear and trepidation I used my rotary cutter and sliced it in two!

 

Then I measured how wide a section that I needed to insert.

This piece will be on the lining side of my planner.  I added 1 inch to my desired width for seam allowances.  Sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance on each side of the strip.  I have to be honest here and tell you that I sewed one edge to the wrong side.  Then I tore out the correct side and ended up with both sides wrong and had to tear them both out!  Yes, it happens!  When I finally had it all sewn satisfactorily I pressed the seams in toward the new strip and measured for a strip of fusible fleece to be inserted in the gap.

I cut and inserted the fleece, then folded the ends of the strip on the lining side over the edges of the planner.  I cut a piece of wide ribbon and pinned it over the added strip, turning the edges under at the top and bottom.  Then I topstitched it all into place It got a little crooked as you can see from the lining side:

But it looks great on the outside, and that's all anyone will see!

Now the cover fits perfectly on my planner without feeling too snug!

I am glad I spent about a half hour to take care of this right away!  What relatively small project are you putting off today?  Set a timer for 15 minutes and work on it - you might be surprised and get it finished and crossed off your list before you know it!

Linking up for Monday Making!  

Cover for Quilter's Planner, finally finished!

Yay - I finally finished the embroidery on this lovely piece to grace the front of my Quilter's Planner!  I made a big mess in my sewing room finding some fabrics that I loved with it, and put together the cover in quick order :)  I love Jenny's embroidery designs, she has so many lovely ones, plus even a monthly club you can subscribe to!  You can find her blog here:

Jenny of Elefantz

Sadly, I must have been using the planner pattern for a previous year, because when I put it on my planner I found it was quite snug.  Yep, I looked up the current year's size, and it needs to have 1 1/4 inches added to the width of it.  I will remedy that this afternoon so that the cover will fit properly.

In the meantime - here is what it looks like

And the inside:

May is starting to fill up!  Notice what is happening on May 18 and 19? I'll be at Spring Quilt Market in Portland, OR!  I am super excited, it will be my first one - I am going with the staff at Threads That Bind and am so looking forward to a great time of seeing new fabric, patterns and notions!  Plus meeting a lot of people in real life that I only know online - sew excited!!!!

In the meantime, I am still working on hand quilting the grandmother's flower garden quilt, After a month of stitching about 2 hours a day on it, I estimate I have another two months before it's finished.  But that means in two weeks I'll be half done, right?

Have a wonderful Sunday!  Sit down and do some hand-stitching, it's good for the soul!

Linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching 

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

One of the fun things about getting together with our children is seeing the little things they say and do that remind us that they are our children, indeed!  Joellen posted on her blog this morning and from the title on I was hooked -  New Year Love is definitely from me.  I think if I had to pick a favorite holiday, New Year Day would absolutely be in the running!  I love the idea of starting with a clean slate, and empty calendar and 365 new days to fill with all kinds of fun things and projects.

If you go on to read her post, however, she talks about perfectionism, which she gets from both me and her father.  I know it affects how I do things differently, I tend more towards avoiding tasks that I doubt I can complete perfectly which leads to my battle with procrastination.  I definitely have discovered that this is where I tend to accumulate UFO's (UnFinished Objects).  Most of my projects that I haven't finished tend to have some sort of a problem, which is why they get set aside in the unfinished state!  During my 2014 UFO challenge, I had a really great time taking a dozen of those projects and facing their imperfections so they can at long last be quilts.  I think that really helped me to see that even though the project I am working on might not be exactly what I envisioned in the beginning, it is still worthwhile to take it through to completion.

Going back to planning, I am having fun with my present to myself this year - an awesome Quilter's Planner!

It has a lot of great features designed especially for quilters, so I think this will be a great tool to keep me on track this year!  If you would be interested in ordering one, they are available at the Fat Quarter shop.  I just downloaded a pattern to make a sweet cover for it, so hope to get started on that tomorrow.  Tonight I am thinking about what fabrics I want to use...such fun.

Luckily, whatever bug I had seems to have been fairly short lived.  I am getting a little bored of taking it easy and am looking forward to finishing up the rest of the week with some sewing, house cleaning and putting away the Christmas decorations.  Sad, but also fun to get started with the New Year!  What are your New Year plans?  We'll be staying in, probably will watch a good movie and eat some chips and dip - yum!